Granger Smith is educating fellow parents about Infant Swim Rescue (ISR) survival swimming lessons, because he says it’s something he was unaware of when his 3-year-old son, River, drowned in 2019, and it’s important.
Smith’s youngest son, Maverick, was born in August 2021, and at 8 months old, he’s already completed 10 ISR lessons. “He’s a warrior,” the country singer explains in a heartfelt urge to his fans to “hear” his message.
“He can barely crawl, but now he knows how to hold his breath, twist his body, find the air, float on his back and cry,” Smith notes. “He can do this falling in head first, feet first or any orientation. He has the skills to float until help comes.”
Watch the incredible video below:
The “Backroad Song” singer says his “own vulnerabilities” have kept him from attending the classes Maverick is mastering, but his wife, Amber, has been dedicated to each and every lesson. After losing River in a tragic drowning accident in 2019, Amber feels it is “an obligation to the public to share this message.”
Smith also some staggering statistics in his post, as well as some safety measures parents should be looking into with the warmer months approaching. Amber, too, shared some photos of baby Maverick from an underwater perspective, and notes that while the photos may be alarming to see, they are less scary than the alternative.
“Guys, I get it. It can seem scary when you see a video of a crying baby being led to fall into a body of water,” she confesses in the caption. “You know what’s scarier and more painful? Losing a child to a fatal drowning. This wasn’t easy for me. Seeing him cry those first few lessons, I wanted to scoop him right up, but I trusted the process and I watched as it worked every step of the way! We made the decision to give Maverick the skills he needed to find the air, the skills River needed that we didn’t know about, and my goodness, he did it!!”
The Smiths welcomed Maverick on Aug. 20, 2021. The couple wanted their new baby’s name to include the letters R-I-V to honor their late son, River, and his nickname. Granger always loved the name Maverick, so it was a perfect fit. The couple share two other children, London, 10, and Lincoln, 8.
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